From Beirut to Byblos(jebeil) and Juneih to Harissa
Friends here i am with my 3rd blog. We landed at Beirut, saw beirut and now moving on to some cities in Lebanon. The best part of Lebanon is that the cities are not very far. You can easily make Lebanon your base and go to another city and come back in the evening to your hotel in Beirut. Today shall brief you on the captioned subject.
You can easily go to Byblos (in arabic Jebeil) in a minivan or coaster from Charles Helou bus station near Martyrs square. All buses to the north side goes from here. It takes approximately an hour plus to reach Byblos. It is advisable to go to Byblos and then on way back get down at Jouneih to go to Harissa via cable car. Or you can also go to Jouneih first take cable car to harissa and come down in the same and take a bus to Byblos. I went to Byblos first and on way back got down at Junieh.
Byblos is a beautiful town. The bus drops on the main road from where you have to walk down a pedestrian underpass to reach byblos which takes barely 5 minutes. There is a beautiful castle known as Byblos Castle. Its entrance is free to the best of my understanding as i reached early morning and no one asked for any entrance fee. It is pretty big and the view from the top is mesmerizing. From there you can walk down the Byblos bay and walk along the corniche viewing the beach and other natural beauty. There is a small and very old masjid (mosque) just outside the castle. I offered my Zohar Salat there. Near to it is a wax museum. The charge and entrance fee of around 1.5 dollars. It is not very big but again worth a visit. They have there known artists made of wax. Walk around the town you will find a very old church and an eating corner where numerous restaurants offer sumptuous meal. The old town where all the shopping outlets are known as old souk is very capturing. The shops are made of old wood and the streets are of old bricks. Provided this site allows then may post a few pictures with this blog. You can wrap up Byblos in a few hours.
Once done with Byblos you need to come up the main road and stand on the opposite side (from the one you got down while coming to Byblos) and take a minivan or a coaster to Junieh. It will take approximately 40 minutes to reach Junieh. Buses normally charge one dollar (LLB 70000 to 80000) unless the route is longer. I was planning to go to Jeita grotto but guess it was not in fate as it was closed due to repairs.
As you reach Juneih you need to walk down the stairs as bus driver will drop you there once you tell him Juneih and also tell him regarding the cable car called teleferik out there. You get down the stairs and walk on the right for 10 odd minutes and would reach the sea. Take a left and walk 5 minutes and you are at the cable car entrance. Buy the ticket which cost me around 3 dollars (LLB 200000) return. The cable car ride is of around 15 minutes one way and once it reaches the top either you can walk from their or take furnicular (a small train) takes 3 minutes to take you to the top where you will see “Our Lady of Lebanon”. There is a church there too. You can walk up to the statue and the view is breath taking from the top. Once done you may get down walk around Harissa take pictures as the view is beautiful. And follow suit while returning i.e. either walk down a few steps towards the cable car entrance or take furnicular to the cable car and then back to Junieh. Ensure you have your camera with you as you would like to take a lot of pictures in line with the awesome natural beauty you would see on way to the top and on return as well.
From Juneih where you got down from Jeibel take a bus back to Charles Helou bus station and once there walk your way to your hotel. Hope you enjoy reading it and it benefits you as and when you travel to Lebanon. Please note Jeita grotto (a cave in the mountains) is before Juneih but you need to take a taxi once you get down somewhere near where the route goes up to the mountains. What i heard and inquired no bus goes there. And hiking may take hours.